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The Beauty of Eating Seasonal

There was a time when all foods were seasonal. Each season brought us something new and we looked forward to the change in diet.

Today, we have lost that delightful connect with the changing of seasons. Almost every vegetable is available throughout the year. And some fruits too.

However, we can make a conscious choice to eat seasonal as much as possible. So what should you be eating this summer?

1. Amaranth Greens (Chauli)

Amaranth Greens

Amaranth is deemed a superfood, dense with nutrients such as potassium, magnesium, iron, tocotrienols and fibre, which make it good for the heart, anti-inflammatory, good for the nervous system and digestive system.

2. Bottle Gourd (Lauki)

As bottle gourd is mostly made of water, it helps you deal with heat and is also useful for stomach problems like acidity, which mostly occurs in summer. Bottle Gourd prevents extreme loss of sodium, satisfies thirst and helps in preventing exhaustion.

3. Pumpkin (Sitaphal)

Pumpkin possesses great cooling and diuretic properties. It is also good for improper digestion and eliminating intestinal worms from the digestive system. Pumpkin contains potassium and fibre. It also controls blood pressure and sugar. It helps in curing skin diseases. It is thought to regulate blood sugar levels and help stimulate the pancreas — thus diabetics are advised to eat pumpkin.

4. Snake Gourd (Padval)

It creates a cooling effect for the body. It is useful in correcting disorders, processes nutrition and it restores the normal functioning of the system. Snake gourd helps to stimulate the production of body fluids and relieves dryness.

Snake gourd is the best household remedy for heart problems. The juice from the fresh leaves is useful for heart disorders like palpitation and pain in the heart on physical exertion.

5. Karela (Bitter Gourd)

Bitter gourd is a cure for boils, rashes, fungal infections and ring-worm. It also helps control hypertension and diabetes, and generally increases immunity.

6. Cucumber (Khira)

Cucumber has 96% water content, which helps in keeping the body hydrated and in regulating body temperature. Cucumber also contains a lot of potassium, magnesium and fibre that work effectively for regulating blood pressure. The high water content in cucumber is very effective in flushing away the toxins from the digestive system and hence aids digestion. Regular intake of cucumber helps to dissolve bladder or kidney stones.

7, Ridged Gourd (Jhinga)

This summer vegetable helps in purifying blood, lowering the sugar level of the blood and is also good for your stomach or digestion-related issues.

8. Ash Gourd (Petha)

It helps to keep your body cool and healthy, as it contains almost 96% water It also helps to protect you from heat stroke. Ash-gourd is loaded with nutrients. It’s an excellent source of vitamin B1 (thiamine), a good source of vitamin B3 (niacin). Its high potassium content makes this a good vegetable for maintaining a healthy blood pressure. Ash-gourd is also useful in treating respiratory disorders like asthma, blood-related diseases, and urinary diseases like kidney stones.

Our next blog posts will take each vegetable separately and suggest recipes that can be made with these vegetables. From raitas and pachdis to steam fired vegetables to curries, the scope is tremendous. Bon Appetit!